Chrono Cross

[Anonymous No.6355367]

Its a bit of a shame about the sort of mediocre battle system, lack of focus on character development and wishy washy plot because this game has some of the best music and art in the genre.

Does anyone know if it is possible to replace backgrounds in PS1 ISOs with upscaled versions for an emulator? I doubt its possible but I found an album with a ton of AI upscaled Cross backgrounds. With CPU overclock, 3d scaling and PGPX it is really amazing how much better the game looks and feels (60 fps combat is *great*)... the last piece of the puzzle is improving the backgrounds.

Here's the album:

[Anonymous No.6355370]

>>6355367
https://imgur.com/a/o17a5At

[Anonymous No.6355415]

I'm trying to eliminate my physical backlog before I get any more.

Can I play this without playing the SNES game?

[Anonymous No.6355429]

>>6355415
You should play Trigger first. This game's story is so fucked up that the references and tie ins to the first will make you feel better. But strictly you don't have to, its very much its own game.

[Anonymous No.6355435]

>>6355415
You should definitely consider just play Chrono Trigger, while I feel like Chrono Cross would've worked better if had less to do with Trigger, it's still pretty essential for at least some of the plot element towards the end of the game. That and Chrono Trigger is a fun, really easy to get into charming jrpg that I think most people will enjoy.

[Anonymous No.6355442]

>>6355367
>Its a bit of a shame about the sort of mediocre battle system
I don't know what problem people had about the battle system, I think that it would've definitely been more interesting if they had expanded on Trigger's battle system but in the 5th gen game, but on it's own it actually functions pretty well. The magic deck building mechanic actually forces the player the think about what magic to cast in battles, and to even cast it in the first place, you have to build up meter for attack. So attacking and magic nicely flow together... Ideally at least, the real problem with the battle system isn't the way it works, it's just that the whole damn game is considerably easy none of the mechanics feel like the potential is really being fleshed out. The only somewhat challenging fight is pic related.

[Anonymous No.6355490]

>>6355415
Don't listen to these goofs.
You absolutely don't have to play Chrono Trigger to enjoy this game. Theres like maybe 5-10 minutes in this 40 hour RPG that even relate to it.
The real reason to play Chrono Trigger is because it is a vastly better game.

[Anonymous No.6355505]

>>6355442
I think Dario fight is harder than Miguel, especially if you're low level and don't know his pattern. Once you know his pattern, it's easy though.

[Anonymous No.6355510]

>>6355442
>>6355505
I forgot one more, the Criosphinx.
Optional boss though.
And if the battle is avoidable if you answer the riddle.

[Anonymous No.6355521]

>>6355367
>>6355370
>backgrounds blown up into mushy roadkill pizza are better because there are no visible pixels

[Anonymous No.6355546]

Baten kaitos was like another Chrono cross. Same writer, background painter, and composer.

[Anonymous No.6355548]

>>6355510
>>6355505
I almost forgot about those and you're right those are actually considerably challenging fights. The Sphinx is hard but also can be easily cheesed but you definitely want to kill him for the sunglasses.

[Anonymous No.6355604]

>>6355546
Was it better than cross?

[Anonymous No.6355621]

>>6355367
>it's a shame that everything that makes a game a game is shit.

Yes anon, it is a shame.

[Anonymous No.6355651]

>>6355521
It looks a million times better than the unscaled content you nerd

[Anonymous No.6355693]

>>6355651
Man I finished all my bacon, I hate this shit

[Anonymous No.6355867]

>>6355435
I always fuck myself over in JRPGs, so I never liked them. What should I know before I play Chrono Trigger? Enemies level scale? Skills to avoid wasting points on? One time crafting materials?

[Anonymous No.6355887]

>>6355867
Chrono Trigger (un)fortunately belongs to the then-new "unlosable, brain-dead easy" school of JRPGs. You don't have to know anything or expend any sort of effort to beat the whole thing. As is often the case in these games, the relatively challenging shit that requires some exploration on your own (as opposed to being yanked by the plot) and/or planning in combat (as opposed to just using the most obvious attacks and spells) is very late into the game and mainly optional.
I love Chrono Trigger, but in terms of gameplay it's pretty damn dull.

[Anonymous No.6355916]

>>6355867
Just a tip:
You'll find sealed chests which require something to open. These sealed chests exist in many timeline.
Say you find one in year 600 AD somewhere and that chest exists too in the present.
Take the items first in the present before taking it in 600 AD. If you take the item in 600 AD first, the item disappears in the present.
There's a trick to upgrade its content (usually armors/weapons) in the present.
Exemine the chest in 600 AD but don't take the item out. Go to the present and item will be upgraded. Then you can go back to 600 AD to get the un-upgraded item.

[Anonymous No.6355968]

>>6355867
Trust me anon, as a few others have pointed out. This game is so ridiculously straight forward. You're gonna do fine, only thing I'll say is towards the very end of the game there are a few optional side quests that you can opt to do before finishing the game, they're worth your while.

[Anonymous No.6355984]

>>6355916
This is useless information, man. It's fun to figure this shit out but it's completely pointless if the puzzle is solved for you and all you get is an irrelevant trinket that's only marginally helpful in such an easy game.

[Anonymous No.6357591]

I like chrono cross' battle system. Its story has gaps but everything else is amazing.

[Anonymous No.6357646]

I love Chrono Cross. It has faults but its fucking great.

[Anonymous No.6357660]

>>6355521
>complains about upscaling
>posts non-integer nearest neighbor

[Anonymous No.6357702]

>>6355367
>lack of focus on character development

I wish this wasn't always so derided as being an out-and-out negative in games necessarily. In serialized TV this isn't always considered a bad thing as some shows have more of an ensemble cast, with 10, even upwards of 20 getting some mild to moderate level of development while 5 or 6 end up getting a plurality of it at the end of the day.

Even if you do consider it a cut-and-dry "bad thing," when you really sit down and think about the game, the core four of Serge, Kid, Lynx, and Harle get plenty of backstory and development, just as Marle, Lucca, Frog, and Magus did. The rest of the characters don't detract from those four, just as Robo and Ayla's relatively low amount of time spent on characterization (or in Crono's case, none) don't make me forget that Magus and his tragic backstory exist. And, characters like Nikki, Viper, Riddel, Karsh, Radius, Fargo, and Glenn arguably get just as much development and scenes as nearly anyone from the CT cast, if not more (with the caveat that it's sometimes dependent on recruitment/optional questing).

I get that the characters can feel de-focused from a certain perspective, especially in the beginning, but you have to give it time and attention.

[Anonymous No.6357710]

>>6357702
This,
I always hear the complaint about having a cast that's too large but in the end it still doesn't take away from the characters who are well development. Yeah sure Turnip doesn't add much to the story but he's also completely optional and really just an extra character you can go out of your way to get. Honestly, I'll be damned if I said I didn't feel at least a little sorry for Funguy not being able to go back to his daughter too, even if that doesn't have an entire fleshed out story arc revolving around it.

[Anonymous No.6357750]

>>6357710
>Funguy
Translator got too much shroom and translate it him as Funguy instead of Fungi.

[Anonymous No.6357765]

>>6357750
I thought his name was literally supposed to be a pun, not a mistake.

[Anonymous No.6357771]

>>6357765
It is indeed a pun.
I was joking about the shroom.

[Anonymous No.6357779]

>>6357771

[Anonymous No.6357790]

I like Crono Cross a lot because it was kinda shaky and imperfect, same reason I got a soft spot for Xenogears. CT on the other hand I barely remember playing, it's polished and slick but I thought it was a bit of a snooze.

[Anonymous No.6357850]

>>6355490
Based department?

[Anonymous No.6357854]

>>6355604
By virtue of not shitting all over one of the milestones of the genre, yes.

[Anonymous No.6357862]

>>6355867
It's actually a well designed game so no, it doesn't require minmaxing, grinding and you can't lock yourself out of the best way to play.

[Anonymous No.6357923]

>>6357779
When did he say this line?

[Anonymous No.6357962]

>>6357923
When you recruit him, when he becomes cursed to become a mushroom he insists on going with you after the frozen flame so he can change back to normal, and if you don't he makes said threat.

[Anonymous No.6357974]

>>6357962
Thanks, my last play was around 2010 so I don't remember it.

[Anonymous No.6358221]

>>6355442
>I don't know what problem people had about the battle system
>the real problem with the battle system isn't the way it works, it's just that the whole damn game is considerably easy none of the mechanics feel like the potential is really being fleshed out.
???

[Anonymous No.6358406]

>>6355984
Getting 2 Nova Armor's from doing Frog's Questline is pretty great for your first play through.

[Anonymous No.6358409]

>>6357702
The difference is you have a really tight cast in CT, and a bloated cast in CC.

Sure, characterization exists in CC. No doubt. The issue is you have to keep track of Home World, and Another World versions of characters, and it's insanely easy to miss out on exposition because you didn't bring (or even get) certain characters.

Chrono Cross needed a lot of fat cut. The bloat is unreal in that game. Not to mention it's filled with 2smart4u exposition dumps.

[Anonymous No.6358827]

>>6355887
>>6355968
>>6357862

Alright sounds fun I'll give it a shot.